


wake me up (before you go-go)

by melodiousmadrigals



Series: wondertrev week 2020 [4]
Category: Wonder Woman (Movies - Jenkins)
Genre: (major character REVIVAL), Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Don't copy to another site, F/M, Family, Fix-It, Post-Canon Fix-It, Steve Trevor Lives, Themyscira (DCU), the opposite of major character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25325998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melodiousmadrigals/pseuds/melodiousmadrigals
Summary: Day 4 of Wondertrev Loveweek: ReturnOn a sticky day in June, Diana decides that it’s time to return to Themyscira. It produces some mixed emotions and insecurities.
Relationships: Diana & Hippolyta (Wonder Woman), Diana (Wonder Woman)/Steve Trevor
Series: wondertrev week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1830868
Comments: 12
Kudos: 74
Collections: Wondertrev Week 2020





	wake me up (before you go-go)

**Author's Note:**

> No beta we die valiantly. Title from Wham!'s 1984 hit by the same name. 
> 
> Steve Trevor is just perpetually in awe of Diana. He's the embodiment of the John Mulaney [That's-My-Wife!.gif], whether they're married or not.

It's a sticky day in June when Diana says, "I think it is time to return to Themyscira. I have put it off too long."

Even though the War technically ended in November, there has been no shortage of work and missions, of places for Diana to help right the wrongs that Ares—and Man—had done. Still, a visit is long overdue, if only to put her mother's mind at ease. She's been gone seven whole months.

"I—yeah. I can arrange transport for you whenever you want." Steve's sitting at the kitchen table opposite where she's standing, newspaper and juice in hand, doing his very best to conceal his surprise and swallow down the dread that's suddenly thickening in his throat. He's not ready to lose her. (He doesn't think he'll ever be, but seven months is nowhere near enough time.)

"Us," says Diana absently, apparently unbothered by the oppressive heat as she fiddles with the kettle for her morning tea, which she always drinks far hotter than Steve can stand. "If you can spare a week, anyways." 

He can absolutely spare a week, but that doesn't actually seem like the biggest issue, here. "Am I, uh, allowed?" 

"Yes, of course," says Diana, adding a touch of honey—which she far prefers to the overly sweet granulated sugar the British are so fond of—to the tea. "You are with me."

"It's just—" He scrapes his hand across the nape of his neck, winces. "I can think of a few reasons I wouldn't be." The fact that he's a man is probably the _least_ egregious thing on Hippolyta's list. 

"Anyone who doesn't like it can take it up with me." She pauses, looks at him seriously. "You do not have to come, you know. I would like it, but if you are uncomfortable…" 

He's going, of course. It was a lost cause as soon as she asked him. He'd follow her to the ends of the earth and back, and that includes Themyscira. 

"When do we leave?" 

Diana's ensuing smile might just make it all worth it. 

* * *

Steve enjoys the boat trip to Themyscira more than he has any right to. It's the first time they've had substantial, uninterrupted time together since—well, since the boat trip _from_ Themyscira. And they're on considerably closer terms, now. 

There's no mission to steal their attention away, no urgent telegrams calling one or both of them to another country, no well meaning friends crashing what was meant to be a romantic dinner. (Sameer swears up and down that he didn't realize that Steve meant he was making a specifically-him-and-Diana-dinner, but Steve _saw_ him discreetly swapping money with Charlie afterwards and laughing, the _traitors_.) It's just the two of them, talking and laughing and—on one particularly memorable occasion—diving off the side of the boat for a lazy, mid-afternoon swim. 

At night, they lay side by side, so close that the Steve from seven months ago would be heartily scandalized, and play a game where Steve points out constellations, and Diana recounts the myth behind each one that she was taught as a child. They fall asleep shoulder to shoulder and thigh to thigh, heads leaned together and fingers laced. 

* * *

They catch good winds and make quick time, and though Diana thinks they go in circles a bit before finding the veil that separates Themyscira from the mortal world, they do break through eventually. 

Indeed, they must be spotted almost immediately by an Amazon scout, because by the time they arrive at the dock, there's a welcome party waiting for them, consisting of a dozen Amazons and led by Menalippe. 

The Amazons unanimously abandon decorum and embrace Diana in turn, and Menalippe tells Diana that the Queen waits to receive her in the palace. 

What should be a victorious homecoming and happy moment is dampened when it becomes apparent that the party only boasts one extra horse, despite the fact that they were both on deck the whole time. Whether it is her mother's doing, or Menalippe's, the meaning is clear. 

"No matter," says Diana icily. "Steve can ride with me. Klytemnestra is more than capable." The black mare chooses that moment to snort, seemingly in agreement. 

"Princess—"

But Diana has already swung up onto the horse, and reached down to boost Steve up behind her. As soon as he's in place, she urges the mare forward, galloping off along familiar trails towards the palace. 

Diana dismounts in the courtyard while the horse is still moving, and strides into the palace throne room, where Hippolyta stands, cutting an imposing figure with an entourage of Senators flanking her. 

"Mother," Diana greets, inclining her head. 

"My child." 

It's at that moment that Steve shows up, sending a murmur through the Senators. 

"Steven Trevor," says Hippolyta distastefully. 

"Your Majesty." 

Diana redirects the attention back to herself by saying, "We come with the news that Ares has been vanquished. I have fulfilled the foreordiance of the Amazons and killed him." 

More whispers erupt among the Court. 

"Congratulations, my daughter. You have done us a great service, and are a credit to the Amazons." 

"I have done as I was taught by you and our great fallen sister, General Antiope." She holds her mother's gaze. Hippolyta blinks first. 

"A celebration, then, is in order," declares Hippolyta. "To fête a mighty warrior, and give our thanks that Ares has been defeated at last." 

At this edict, a dozen Amazons spring into action. 

"Eumelia, Althea, in the meantime, please show our… _guest_ to the Sage Rooms. I would have a private audience with my daughter."

Diana's eyes narrow. The palace is not spectacularly large—there's no reason for it to be much bigger than a regular residence with a couple of halls for High Council meetings, but the rooms she's suggesting are as far from Diana's traditional set as is spacially possible. 

Diana squeezes Steve's hand. "I will be along shortly," she whispers. 

Steve nods, and allows himself to be led away. 

* * *

As soon as they are alone, Hippolyta rounds on Diana. "What are you still doing with him?" 

"He is a good man, Mother."

"There is no such thing, Diana!" Hippolyta exclaims. 

"The world is not so black and white," Diana refutes. "And even if what you say is true, he _wants_ to be a good man. He is trying to be, every day, with all of his choices. Does that count for nothing?" 

Hippolyta scoffs. "Oh, I'm sure that he claims to be, but what is a man's _word_ worth?" 

"He sacrificed himself, Mother!" Diana snaps, choking on the words, unable to separate the fact itself from the memory and the emotions that it causes to well within her. "He was willing to die to save thousands, maybe millions. I watched his aeroplane explode, and I could do nothing to save him." 

Hippolyta's brow furrows, and Diana answers her unasked question. 

"One of the gods saved him. Apparently they are not all quite so dead as your stories implied." 

"A god _would,_ " says Hippolyta derisively. "It reeks of Zeus, as if a man is ever a reward—" 

"I love him—" 

"You barely know him!" 

"I know him well enough! I love him and I'm not willing to argue with you about this any further." 

Pivoting from Steve himself—possibly because she knows a losing battle when she sees it—Hippolyta says instead, "I still think they do not deserve you, Diana."

"Probably not," Diana agrees, to her mother's clear shock. "But it is not about what they deserve. It is about what I _believe,_ and I believe in love, and humanity." 

Hippolyta pauses, then half-nods, a resigned air about her. "I suppose that is rather insightful." 

Diana smiles at her triumphantly. "That is something Steve told me. He is more than you think, Mother." 

"Hmm," says Hippolyta scornfully, but she makes no further protest, and Diana knows that she's won for the moment. 

* * *

Diana finds Steve fiddling with an hourglass in his rooms, far later than she'd meant to be. Her conversation with her mother was wide-ranging.

"You survived the day."

He looks up, relief clear on his face. 

"Yeah, uh. An Amazon named Althea took pity on me?" 

Althea is a talented archer, and she was on the beach that day. She would've seen Steve fight with the Amazons, would have reason to not distrust him outright. 

"Then perhaps your day was more enjoyable than mine."

Steve winces. "Your mother?"

"Displeased with me," Diana says lightly. "But I am working on it." 

"She's mad at you because of me, isn't she."

"A little, yes," says Diana in that blunt manner of hers, unwilling to sugar-coat it or lie. "But she disapproves of many of my choices." 

That much is true: the list of things her mother disapproves of includes Steve, her decision to stay in the World of Man after Ares was defeated, her desire to return, her critique that her mother should have told her about Zeus, about being the Godkiller, and more.

She sighs and starts to pace, now visibly agitated. "I just do not understand why she continues to be so stubborn about you!" 

"In her defense," says Steve cautiously, "men do not have the greatest track record. It's probably not personal. I hope." 

"But it _is_ personal!" Diana cries. "I am not asking any of them to go to Man's World, or to bring a group of unknown men here. I am simply asking that they treat one single man who I trust implicitly without hostility." 

It finally clicks for Steve: she's angry because she feels they're discounting her judgement just as much as they're discounting him. Even after all she's done, all she's endured, they're signaling to her that her trust, her judgement, isn't enough. 

"Shit. I'm sorry. Maybe I should leave?"

 _"No,"_ says Diana fiercely. "This is their problem, not yours." 

Personally, Steve feels that they've kind of _made_ it his problem, but he's not about to do something to make her question whether he distrusts her judgement too. 

"Maybe a quick nap before the feast tonight?" he suggests. "It's been a long day." 

"I am not tired," she snaps, and then reconsiders it, softens a little. "But if you are offering to hold me—?" 

Steve ducks his head to conceal his grin. "Yeah, I am." 

She nods once, and without hesitation strips down to her linen tunic, lays down. Steve joins her, and she buries her head into the junction between his neck and chest, breathes deep as he wraps his arm around her. 

"It is unfair how much better this makes me feel," she grumbles. 

"Trade secret," teases Steve, before he presses a kiss to the top of her head. She sighs and nuzzles closer, and they both end up drifting off for a bit. 

* * *

The Amazons, it must be said, certainly know how to throw a party. The bonfire roars in the background, the food is superb, and the music is rollicking, lively, frenetic. The joy in the air is infectious: Ares is defeated and their Princess has returned a conquering hero.

A woman he recognizes as Mala, Diana's best friend, pulls her up and they start dancing, something related to a reel or a jig, fast paced with intricate footwork. In no time, a number of other Amazons join in, all laughing and cheering and spinning wildly.

Steve watches as Diana gets twirled 'round and 'round in time to the lively music, switching partners regularly and laughing in delight. At one point, he loses sight of her, and the next moment, she pops up next to him.

" _This_ is dancing," she says, slightly breathless and eyes alight with excitement. "Will you join me?"

He's about to make an idiot out of himself, but he'll do it gladly for her. Steve takes her hand and allows her to pull him up. She walks him through the steps, and then they pick up the pace. The footwork itself is a little much for him, but once he picks up the general rhythm, they're able to twirl around almost as fast as she had been before. As he gets more comfortable, they start trading partners as is customary, and he dances with Althea, and then Mala—who he suspects is being kind for Diana's sake—and then an Amazon named Apollonia that he vaguely recognizes as the healer who treated him the first time he was here, before ending up back in Diana's arms. 

Diana grins, delighted, and then leans in to whisper, "This is nice, but I will admit that there is something to be said for swaying." 

He wears a matching grin, after that.

* * *

Steve is an early riser, but he's got nothing on Diana. The other side of the bed has long since turned cold by the time he wakes, the sun over the horizon but still low in the sky. Just past dawn, but he suspects Diana woke to go join the other Amazons in their training. 

He dresses quickly and pads his way down the trail towards where she pointed out the training grounds last night. He has the city to himself; all the training warriors are long-arrived at the field, and everyone else is still abed. He hears the sounds of sparring before he sees them, and then finds himself on a balcony overlooking the field. He thinks, maybe, it's the one she told him she took a flying leap from as a little girl. 

Below, the women are through with their conditioning exercises and have moved on to actual sparring. Steve catches sight of Diana almost instantly, her figure familiar to him even at a distance, her dark hair done back in an elaborate Amazonian braid. 

Even if he wasn't so attuned to her, couldn't pick her out of a crowd in a second flat, it would be easy to spot her: she's in the middle of a dozen other Amazons, wielding a massive broadsword and fighting all of them at once. 

They come at her in waves, and she takes them down with a practiced sort of ease, one or two at a time. It's truly awe-inspiring, watching her like this, among almost-equals. She looks so natural here, dressed in the same tunic and breastplate as the other Amazons, the sun glinting off her shield. 

It's because she _belongs,_ he realizes. Belongs in a way that she never has in his world, even though she's carved a niche for herself. 

He's thrown from his reverie by a mighty clang as she catches two different blows with her blade at once and throws them off. Off to his left, there's a glint that catches his eye, and he turns in time to see an archer release an arrow meant for Diana. But even as she parries another blow, turned away from the incoming arrow, she jumps, vaulting herself into the air and twisting over the path of the arrow entirely. 

Even Steve, who regularly sees what Diana can do, feels his jaw drop. He stands there entranced at least another hour, watching as Diana takes on Amazon after Amazon—with a sword and later hand-to-hand—and makes it look easy. 

When the session ends with her pinning the last opponent and then gamely pulling her up and into a warm hug, Steve makes his way back towards the palace. 

She finds him some time later, reading on the balcony. She's dripping sea water, and is wearing the widest grin, skin glowing in the golden island light. 

"We went cliff diving," she says, breathless. "I came back to see if you wanted to join in for a second round!" 

Steve is no stranger to daredevil activities—he was a pilot, after all—but there are no words to convey how much he does _not_ want to go cliff diving. He doesn't mind heights and doesn't mind swimming, but the nexus of the two leads directly down the path of being overcome by memories of crashing his plane into the sea. 

Diana seems to draw this same conclusion by the stricken look on his face as he's trying to figure out how to say it aloud. "Steve, I'm sorry. I did not think. Maybe we could go swimming in the cove instead?" 

"What about the cliff diving? I want you to have fun." 

"Spending time with you _is_ fun," she says guilelessly, like she's confused he could consider it anything else. 

Steve slips a bookmark into his page. "Lead on." 

She takes him down a rocky path he's never been on, and leads him down to a sheltered cove where the waves are almost non-existent and the water is a clear, vibrant blue. 

Diana dives in, Steve not far behind, and they splash around like giddy children for a spell. 

"Float with me," Diana says eventually, and tips back in the water until she's floating buoyant on her back, eyes closed and soaking in the sun and breeze. 

Steve does the same, and, like her body is tuned in to exactly where his rests, she extends a hand and laces their fingers together. He closes his eyes and they float—silently, peacefully, together—in the crystal waters until an Amazon named Phoibe comes to inform Diana that she's late for lunch with the Queen. Diana squeezes his hand, gives him a smile and a kiss, and dashes off to meet Hippolyta, leaving him to head back up at his leisure. 

* * *

They pass the rest of the week in much the same way: in the pre-dawn morning, Diana slips out of bed to train with the Amazons, and then her friends drag her from one activity to another. 

One afternoon, she convinces Steve to take a hike to a temple on the Northern side of the island, but ten minutes in, three other Amazons—including Mala—crash their trip. Fortunately, Althea is also part of the group, the closest thing Steve has to an Amazon friend outside of Diana. It's still an enjoyable afternoon, it's just not quite the one either of them thought they'd be having. 

In the evenings, they usually dine with a group of Amazons including Hippolyta. Post-dinner is devoted to storytelling, once with a bonfire on the beach, but usually at the residences of Diana's friends. 

And Diana is incandescent. Steve has never seen her so relaxed, has never seen her looking so free. The weight of the world has lifted from her shoulders, and she looks younger. Her laughs are just a little quicker to arrive, and a great deal louder in volume. He adores seeing it, and it simultaneously scares him. He's greedy; he wants more time, but he doubts more with each day that he'll get it. 

* * *

The day before they're set to leave, Diana barely sees Steve at all. She's done her best not to leave him all alone—after all, she did ask him to come with—but sometimes her friends get carried away, and this afternoon is one of those times. They spend the entire afternoon on the beach, practicing horsewomanship and some of the more daring tricks. She allows herself to get swept up in it because it's been months since she's ridden a horse trained for this type of thing, and it gives her a thrill. Diana has so idea how long it'll be before she gets the chance to do this again. 

She greets Steve at dinner sweaty and grinning, and feels butterflies in her stomach when his smile softens upon seeing her, when some of the tension reflexively leaves his body. She relaxes too, knowing he's all right.

When she and Steve get back to their rooms that evening, there's a desperation in his kiss that Diana chalks up to having a tough day. It's sweet, even, the way he kisses her like he's mapping her, memorizing every inch. 

"I love you," he says later, as they're drowsing, when she feels so sated and heavy with sleepiness that she might sink straight into the mattress. "I hope you know that I love you." 

She tries to respond, but she's dragged under by a dreamless sleep before she gets the chance. 

* * *

The next morning is a flurry of activity, as Diana gets dragged out even earlier than normal by Mala and Steve packs the few things they've brought. 

They barely see each other all morning, and they're accompanied down to the dock by several of her friends, who chatter on excitedly, anxious to make the most of every bit of time they can. 

Waiting for them at the dock is the Queen and her riding party. 

"Diana." Hippolyta's face betrays nothing, and her tone is just as even. 

Diana pauses in front of her mother, gestures at Steve to continue. Time might be repeating itself, if not for the fact that it is early afternoon and Ares has already been neutralized. 

"There will always be a place for you here." Hippolyta does not ask her to stay; she already knows what Diana's answer would be. 

"Maybe someday I will return for good," says Diana. "But for now, there is still work to do. It does not mean I love you any less, Mother." She looks at her imploringly, the closest she will get to begging her mother's understanding. 

"Be safe, my child." 

Diana allows herself to break this time, and throws her arms around her mother for a tight embrace that she couldn't have indulged last time.

Then she strides down the dock and boards the boat, leaving Steve, who was unmooring the lines, to clamber in after her. It takes very little to get them under way—a stiff, agreeable breeze aiding them—and Themyscira grows smaller, until the moment they pass through the barrier, and the whole thing vanishes like a dream. There was enough to do in terms of manning the riggings that their journey up to that point has been mostly silent, but once Themyscira disappears, Diana breaks the silence. 

"You thought I was going to stay." It's not a question. 

"I did," Steve admits, swallowing. He'd done his best not to show it, but as usual, Diana can read him better than anyone. He couldn't help the look of surprise when she got on the boat, or the tension that left his shoulders when Themyscira vanished. 

"But you were not going to ask me to return with you," Diana says slowly, breaking him out of his thoughts. 

"No, I wouldn't do that. Themyscira is your home."

"And yet you came." She sounds utterly confused.

Steve laughs, soft and wry. "Diana," he says helplessly, "I'm only human. I wanted every second I could get, and I wanted to be able to say goodbye. A real one."

Her eyes soften in understanding. "Oh, my love. This is not how we are destined to say goodbye." 

Steve swallows thickly; she sounds so sure. 

"I just don't want you to be unhappy."

Across from him, Diana frowns. "What makes you think I am not happy?" 

"It's just, on Themyscira, you looked so natural, so relaxed."

Diana cannot help but laugh. "My love, it was because I knew I did not have to stay. I love my sisters dearly, but my role on Themyscira is too static, and comes with the expectation of forever being the same person. The visit was all the sweeter for its fleetingness."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh. Do you really think I would not express my dissatisfaction, were I to feel it?" 

Well, shit. He somehow overlooked that bit, despite the fact that Diana has never been shy about sharing how she feels, and now he feels ridiculous. 

He scrubs a hand over his face. "No. I don't know. Forget I said anything." 

"No, Steve, this is important. Sometimes we get too close to our own problems to see them clearly." She presses a hand to his cheek, and looks him straight in the eye. "This is me telling you: I am happy with you. And if something is wrong, I will tell you. I promise you this. I hope you will do the same."

 _A deal is a promise, and a promise is unbreakable,_ echos in his mind, and he smiles at the memory. He can't imagine ever not finding happiness with her, but says, "Of course," and means it. 

"I love you, Steve Trevor." 

A peacefulness that he hasn't felt in weeks settles over him, and it stays with him the entire return trip to London. 

Their time is only just beginning. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks very much for reading! Comments/kudos always, always appreciated ;)
> 
> (PS: Like 2 hours after they arrive back in London, Charlie, Sameer, & Chief show up with a bottle of whiskey to cheer Steve up, and then Diana walks in like "what does he need cheering up for?" and more money subtly changes hands because they're [supportive] asshole friends who totally bet on whether Diana was coming back. Chief wins. They stay to celebrate instead and Diana drinks them all under the table.)


End file.
